Incubator Newbie

[rissachar]

Hey everyone!
I have had ducks for over a year now, and have hatched some babies just by letting mama duck do the work/sitting on the nest... but one of my best layers isn’t a good nester, and I am looking to get an incubator. I have never in my life used an incubator, and I am a little intimidated! I have seen a few “good deals” on eBay, but they have no reviews and no brand name to look up reviews, so it seems a little sketchy.

I am a self-supporting college student and obviously don’t have a lot of money to spare, so I was wondering if anyone knew of a safe and good incubator, that won’t hurt my wallet too much? I know that this isn’t really a product to skimp and go cheap on, but I also want to be money conscious. I appreciate any input and advice, thank you so much!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Please don't feel intimidated. It is what it is. There are so many different incubators out there. You obviously don't need a lot of capacity.
I've gone from Little Giant incubators which I definitely wouldn't recommend to a big DIY combination incubator/hatcher combo to three used Sportsmen.
Others will chime in with their choices for less expensive options and I've heard Nature Right and Brinsea are good options.
There are a lot of Chinese incubators as well that are automatic but not always reliable.

 

[als77]

Also remember to buy (and calibrate) additional thermometer(s) and hygrometer(s) and get to know your incubator before adding the eggs.

I bought a cheap chinese one and compared it with a bulb thermometer and it seemed to match. Then I bought more thermometers and it turns out the incubator has a major cold spot! My incubator has a 1.1-1.4C (2-2.5F) difference inside it When I put it in the styrofoam it came with (as recommended by the manual) the difference increased to 2.1-2.4C (3.8-4.3F) My solution is to skip the styrofoam, tuck it behind some chairs in the living room, and cover the top of the lid (but not the sides) with a sweater, so now the difference is only (?) 0.5C (0.9F). I fear most of the embyros have died already though